More than 90 percent of the votes from Southern California grocery union members authorized a strike over the weekend.

In voting Friday and Saturday, members of the United Food and Commercial Workers overwhelmingly rejected a health care proposal from Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons stores.

Union officials said Sunday are hopeful a federal mediator will help get talks going again early this week to avert a strike.

The 62,000 member strong union has been operating without a contract since March.

A four-month strike and lockout that began in 2003 cost Ralphs and other grocery chains an estimated $2 billion.

The union negotiates separately with San Bernardino-based Stater Bros. Markets, and did not strike against Stater Bros. in 2003-04.

The stumbling block this time around is not the amount employees are being asked to contribute to their health insurance as the grocery store chains allege, said Connie M. Leyva,whose UFCW Local No. 1428 covers much of the San Gabriel Valley, and includes Pomona, Claremont and Ontario.

Leyva said that the companies have been “underfunding” the health care fund which could go broke in 18 to 20 months.

And they are using the depressed economy as a rationale at the same they have collectively earned $5 billion in profits over the last three years, Leyva said.

“We could get this contract done if employers would come to the table and stay there,” she said.

A four-month strike and lockout that began in 2003 cost Ralphs and other grocery chains an estimated $2 billion.

In a written statement Sunday, Vons stressed the fact that negotiations were ongoing.

“The employers intend to stay focused and engaged in the bargaining process,” the Vons release said. “We remain hopeful that we can peacefully reach a settlement that works for both sides. We would urge the union leadership to do the same.”

The strike vote authorizes the negotiating committed to call a strike after 72 hours after giving notice. But that notice has not been given – yet, Leyva said.

To prepare for a possible strike, Albertsons and Vons began taking applications for temporary workers last week.

A strike this summer would come at a time when the unemployment rate in San Bernardino County is nearly 15 percent while the jobless rate in Los Angeles County is hovering just above 12 percent.

“Asking for strike authorization is a common tactic in negotiations and does not necessarily mean a strike will be called. Getting sidetracked by these tactics – especially when it is clear there is no complete contract offer on the table and because productive negotiations continue – will only delay our ability to reach a fair agreement for our associates,” Alberstson’s spokesman Fred Muir said. “The real work toward getting a fair contract will happen at the negotiating table and we hope that’s where the union leadership will focus its attention when we return to bargaining.”

Ralphs Grocery Co. spokeswoman Kendra Doyel said her chain is committed to staying at the table to negotiate, and the grocers’ proposal was affordable and good for employees and their families.

Both sides announced last month that they had reached a tentative agreement on the employers’ contributions to pension benefits, but payments to the union health care trust fund have been a major sticking point.

Ralphs currently pays more than 90 percent of employee health coverage costs, Doyel said. Workers hired before 2004 pay nothing for health insurance while those hired later pay either $7 a week for single coverage or $15 a week for family coverage.

The companies’ proposal would raise that to $9 a week for singles and $23 a week for families. That is much lower than the average cost of health care insurance in California, she said.